Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Clapping to the chant, cheerleaders cott Witt, Connie Pratt, Martin Bailey, nd Drew Kronenberger get the crowd enthused at the Alief-Hastings pep rally. It really made us feel good to have the crowd join in with us, stated Connie. l we walked in, it was so quiet and ,big. But the next time, it seemed just natural for us to be there, said Con- nie Fritz. , When football season ended, the cheerleaders were already involved lin cheering for the basketball games. The games were usually lheld in the Coliseum two nights a Week, stated Connie Pratt. The crowd was usually pretty spirited, like a lot of the football players lwould stand on the front row and Well, she added. l Scott pointed out that it was hard ,to cheer for these games because l they were so fast paced. While we 'were cheering for the offense, the ball could have easily changed hands. With all this complicated activity, it seemed like there wouldn't be much time to have any fun, but Connie Fritz stated, We worked but we had fun every minute. Summing up the year, Tracey con- cluded, The whole time I had fun. Football season was kind of long, but l'm really glad it ended the way it did. I just wish we could do it all overagainf' Balancing on Seniors Tracey Wheatley and Connie Fritz's shoulders, Senior Cyrene Bouchard describes it as being real shaky. Selected to be on top because she was least scared, Cyrene explained, lf I fell, I would usually land on my feet. 5 .: if R . ST cheerleaders I7

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No one can say the eight cheer- leaders weren't experienced after planning and performing at the fif- teen straight once-a-week pep ral- lies and football games. However, they did lack one quality - they didn't know a cheer for a losing football team. Voted on by the students, the Exhibiting his own special stunt, Senior Charles Lloyd explained, Cheerleading wasn't my life's ambition, but last year's cheerleader Kelly Bittner pointed out to me that it could be fun. ' :sum N 4 . cheerleades, Seniors Martin Bailey, Cyrene Bouchard, Connie Fritz, Drew Kronenberger, Charles Lloyd, Connie Pratt, Tracey Wheatley, and Scott Witt began their cheerleading careers at a cheerleader preparation camp and clinic held at SMU Aug. 7 through Aug. 12. Here they learned new cheers, chants, and pyramids and competed against other squads according to co-head cheerleader Connie Fritz. She added that they were awarded four superior ribbons, and one excellent ribbon, and more impor- tantly, they received a spirit stick, a pretty big deal at camp, it's one of the best awards given. lt was really great, added Connie's part- ner and co-head cheerleader, Charles Lloyd, the guys were so outnumbered. There were like 40 girls to one guy. The next major project they had was planning the first pep rally. We were lucky because we didn't have a game the first week that school star-ted. We used this time to really plan the pep rally, explained Tracey. With fifteen pep rallies, the main problem the cheerleaders encoun- tered, stated Mrs. Virginia Hill, the cheerleader sponsor, was getting the students and the school more spirited. lt seemed like everyone expected to win, and they got apathetic. During the playoffs, we had people from other schools call- ing and begging to come to our pep rallies. Only one unfavorable situation occurred during the entire season, and it was because of natural causes. There was a downpour at the Westchester game, Nov. 17. lt was awful, exclaimed Tracey, It was freezing cold and raining. The wind was blowing so hard and we were soaked to the skin, There was even water in our shoes. She added, We had to put the micro- phone in the ice chest to keep it dry. With the five playoffs held in the Astrodome, the cheerleaders were, after a while, as familiar with it as they were with Tully. The first time Before practice for would-be cheerlead- ers, Senior Tracey Wheatley tries on Senior Scott Witt's sun glasses for snow skiing. Tracey commented, l was pre- tending I was a snow skier, too. On the side of the frames it even said, 'I can ski

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ii ,lr gii .1 me Performing a jazz routine at the West- chester pep rally, Senior Baron Hobbs adds a little shake and wiggle here and there. Resting her chin on her hand, Freshman Cheryl White manages to find a place on the gym floor during a pep rally. Cheryl said that because she was just a Freshman, all she got to do was just sit and watch. .T ..t ii Leaning over the center stairwell, Senior Girl Holly Monahan hangs a poster instructing the varsity football team to Murder the Mustangs. I8 spirit groups , I hind the School spirit for a winning season included wrapping houses, painting posters, decorating the gym, staying up late, and having just plain fun. Spirit organizations from every grade level invaded the pep rallies to promote school spirit. Senior Girls Club met once a week to plan the upcoming week's crazy antics. Each pep rally meant dressing crazy and presenting their designated varsity football player with a spirit gift. I had a lot of fun making spirit boxes and wrapping houses, said Senior Girl Carrie Cox. Senior Girls' Club member Kristal Buckles added, l've always wanted to participate in pep rallies as a Sen- ior Girl, and I wanted to help with the football pIayer's enthusiasm and the general spirit of the school. Contributing to Spartan Spirit Senior Boys' Club entered the pep rallies as a group and were often dressed in anything but ordinary garb. We were the Senior Boys' Club and were supposed to be dif- ferent, stated Barron Hobbs. The Senior Boys' helped with gym deco- rating and often produced skits at pep rallies. They performed a Wran- glerette routine at the Westchester pep rally that required Spartanaire- like high kicks and a memorize dance routine. Senior Boy Tom Hoffman sai We did some rowdy things at tl pep rallies. One of the crazy things we d was to invade Westchester wi' green painted tires. It was all in ft and it wasn't destructive, said Tor Helping with school spirit for ju ior varsity sports was the lunit Girls' Club. lunior Girls' Preside Angela Scarborough said, The was a lot of respect for football pla ersand other athletes at Stratfo and even the underclassmen spot needed an organization to suppc them. lunior Girls' attended the pep rz lies, decorated the gym and pe formed a skit at the Memorial pe rally. A group of two or three gii were responsible for one junior ve sity football player and gave hi cookies, candy, toys, or a spirit bi before each football game. To raise money lunior Girls' helc bake sale and their annual Simontc Barn Dance. We raised son money and now have S800 to 5 into our Senior Girls' Club func said Angela. The lunior Boys' Club was orga